Restoration and Research
The meadow site before restoration
In the fall of 2020, this was a degraded area with piles of waste, dominated by invasive species. Then, the Environmental Studies seniors developed the concept for the Environment Center. Since that time, we have come a long way with restoration of the area to promote native species. Our restoration efforts have gone hand and hand with research projects. By now, more than 20 students have completed independent research projects at the Environment Center.
On this page we outline the major restoration and research.
The meadow during restoration
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Meadow Restoration
The meadow restoration is the flagship project. We are restoring a degraded landfill that contains the rubble from a demolished building. The soil was low-quality and highly compacted with few plants. The restoration to a native meadow (i.e., a grassland where native plants prosper) will improve ecosystem functions such as storm water infiltration and support a complex food web. The thriving plant community is a refuge for wildlife in a suburban landscape.
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Meadow Research
We are interested in how the meadow restoration impacts the diversity of animals and biomass of plants. We are also interested in how the biotic and abiotic components interact. We have air and soil temperature and soil moisture data loggers install in the meadow to monitor how changes in vegetation impact abiotic conditions and visa versa.
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Woodlot Research
The woodlot was a suburban yard with a house and lawn. After about 30 years of abandonment, the woodlot is full of ornamental and invasive species along with some valuable native tree species. Here we are studying the ecosystem properties of carbon sequestration and decomposition, which differs from forests in rural areas. Also, the woodlot provided needed habitat for many species. We are studying invertebrate diversity and wildlife behavior.
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Wildlife Habitat Restoration
The woodlot and meadow provide great foraging and cover habitat for wildlife but other habitat components were missing. We have added nest boxes for song birds. The bat boxes provide day time roosting, a place to rear young, and space for hibernation for rare and common bat species. For solitary bees, bee boxes add needed nesting sites close to foraging areas. Lastly, for screech owls, these boxes offer a safe spot for nesting and roosting in the winter and American kestrels will also nest in this sized box.
> Learn more about the bats, the bees, the owls. (click on animal name)
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The Rain Garden
The Environment Center acts as a demonstration site illustrating how to do restoration. The Environmental Studies Class of 2024 planned, research, and installed a rain garden containing native ornamental plants. They demonstrated the process and value of a rain garden to capture storm water run-off and direct it into the soil where it can more easily get into the ground water and prevent flooding.
Students installing rain garden
Some of the student driven research at the Environment Center
- Olivia Aaron (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2023, ENST 406 Spring 2023). Examining Bird diversity and habitat restoration at the Roanoke College Environment Center.
- Kristina Aucoin (BIOL 460 Fall 2023, BIOL 470 Spring 2024, Senior Thesis) Analyzing Wildlife Abundance and Composition within Rural and Suburban Landscapes in Roanoke, Virginia
- Brittany Belcher (Environment Center Scholars Summer 2021). Assessing Ecosystems Services and Improving Stormwater Management on the Roanoke College Elizabeth Campus: An Initial Assessment.
- Bryce Blake (Environment Center Scholar 2021, ENST 405 Fall 2021) Implications for white-tail deer and mesopredators use of a forest fragment in a suburban landscape: A town within a town.
- Talia Cartafalsa (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2023, Honors in the Major, Honors Distinction Project) An on campus, collaborative restoration of landfill and degraded suburban ecosystems.
- Ashley Curtice (ENST 496 Spring 2024 Honors in the Major). From Landfill to Meadow: Restoration to a Native Landscape
- Zachary Crumpler (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2022). Butterfly diversity across habitat types at the Environment Center, Roanoke College: Pre-restoration patterns .
- Sofia Falkengren (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2021, ENST 406, Spring 2022). Building young naturalists through hands-on environmental education activities.
- James Hartmann (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2023). Method development for ecosystem monitoring
Max Klaverkamp (ENST 406, Spring 2021) Title: Feasibility of Meadow Restoration
on Suburban Landfill Site. Senior Thesis. - Da’Vaun Lee (BIOL 355 Spring 2021, Environment Center Scholar Summer 2021, Senior Thesis Fall 2021-Spring 2022). All three research projects were at the EC: Examining Earthworm Communities on Elizabeth Campus, The Feasibility of Native and Non-Native Earthworms as Bioindicators, Wildlife use of degraded habitats in a suburban landscape: Lessons and promise for restoration.
- Maddie Morrell. (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2023, BIOL 350 Spring 2024). Preliminary restoration efforts on the Roanoke College Environment Center meadow: From buried building to native grass meadow. It is hot out there: Examining temperature profiles in forests and meadow restoration areas.
- Kristin Privette (Summer Scholar/Environment Center Scholar, Summer 2021). The Paradox of Urban Insect Diversity: what role does refugia play?
Shane Saunders (Environment Center Scholar 2022). Examining Bird and Butterfly Diversity in a Suburban Landscape - Ellie Sekelsky (BIOL 350, Fall 2021). Does forest type impact carbon sequestration in mid Atlantic deciduous forests?
- Nora Terrill (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2023). Determining depth to groundwater at Roanoke College’s Environment Center
- Eli Wooliever (Environment Center Scholars Summer 2022). An assessment of microbial activity in the RC Environment Center meadow
- Lauren Young (Environment Center Scholar Summer 2023). Monitoring how soil microbial communities change during restoration of degraded habitats.
Meadow restoration in Summer 2024